@article{ref1,
title="Medication use and deaths attributed to asphyxia among psychiatric patients",
journal="American journal of psychiatry",
year="1980",
author="Craig, T. J.",
volume="137",
number="11",
pages="1366-1373",
abstract="In a review of the charts of inpatients who died in 1969-1977 the author found 49 whose death could be attributed to asphyxia. Compared with a matched control group, 48 of the asphyxia patients represented three distinct pathologic categories: 1) older patients with a history of serious physical illness whose deaths appeared unrelated to psychotropic medication use (40%), 2) a group whose deaths were associated with seizures (31%), raising questions about subtherapeutic anticonvulsant levels in association with the use of psychotropic drugs, and 3) a group of patients who choked to death (29%). Choking has been theoretically linked to a combination of dopamine blockade plus strong anticholinergic effects leading to impairment of swallowing. The third category appears to have been virtually eliminated by the use of a drug monitoring system and the Heimlich maneuver.<p /><p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0002-953X",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}